Paul James Barry (born 24 February 1952) is an English-born, Australia-based journalist, newsreader and television presenter, known to Australian and British audiences for his television reports and his semi-serious comments on current news, which concern various topics, including politics (mostly debunking conservatives lies), sports, entertainment, music, cinema and television. He has won many awards for his investigative reporting and he has previously worked for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on numerous programs, before emigrating to Australia.

Early life

Barry was raised in

Underriver Underriver is a village about south-east of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is in the civil parish of Seal. The name "Underriver", standardised from ''Underevere'', is derived from the Old English ''Sub le Ryver'' which translates into modern English as " ...

and attended Solefield School and

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school. It is co-educational, a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, located in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Established in 1432, it ...

. He studied

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. At

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, he captained the university golf team.

Career

Early career in London

Barry started his journalistic career in London as an economics correspondent for the weekly magazine ''

Investors Chronicle The ''Investors' Chronicle'' is a weekly magazine in the United Kingdom for private investors and is published by the ''Financial Times'' Group. The magazine publishes articles about global markets and sectors, and news on corporate actions such ...

''. In 1978, he joined the BBC as a reporter for ''The Money Programme'', ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

'', and then ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

''.

Australian television

In 1986, Barry moved to Australia and started work with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

(ABC). From 1987 to 1994, Barry worked as an investigative reporter for the ABC's flagship current affairs program ''

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

'' specialising in economic matters, government departmental failures and corporate governance. A series of reports on disgraced businessman

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s; the biggest corporate co ...

and his company

Bond Corporation Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s; the biggest corporate co ...

brought his work to national prominence in 1993. He also wrote a report called ''Blue Death'' on the Wittenoom industrial disaster. In 1995, Barry joined the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

to present short-lived news program ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. He was the presenter of the current affairs program ''Witness'' in 1997. Barry returned to the ABC to host the '' Media Watch'' program in 2000. He was effectively fired from this show by ABC managing director

Jonathan Shier Jonathan Fraser Shier (born 18 October 1947) is an Australian businessman and media executive. He was educated at Barker College, Geelong Grammar School and Monash University (LLB BEcon). During the years 1978 to 1999, Shier lived in the United ...

after a controversial interview with ABC chairman Donald McDonald on the subject of government funding for the ABC. In 2004, he moved to the Nine Network to work as an investigative reporter for ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

''. However, in August 2010, Barry acted as the temporary host of ''Media Watch'' for three months while Jonathan Holmes took long-service leave. On 3 July 2013, Barry returned as the host of ''Media Watch'' following the Jonathan Holmes's decision to leave the show. On 6 August 2021, Barry was injured when he was hit by a car while bicycling to work, causing him to take some time off ''Media Watch'' to recover from his injuries. While he recovered the program was hosted by

Jeremy Fernandez Jeremy Fernandez is an Australian journalist and television news presenter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Fernandez is currently weeknight presenter of '' ABC News NSW'' in Sydney. Early life and education Fernandez was ...

and

Janine Perrett Janine Perrett is an Australian journalist and commentator who has worked across newspapers, radio and television for four decades. She currently works for ABC TV after working as a television presenter for Sky News Australia, until December 20 ...

. Barry subsequently returned to hosting the program on 30 August 2021. He presented his last ''Media Watch'' episode on 2 December 2024.

Writing

In 1991, Barry wrote the book ''The Rise and Fall of Alan Bond.'' In 2001, Barry published a book, ''Going for Broke – How Alan Bond Got Away with It''. For the next two years he wrote for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', winning an additional

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

for exposing a tax scam involving prominent

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

s in Sydney. He has served as a Walkley Award judge and on a past Walkley advisory board. He also wrote a book ''Rich Kids'', documenting the collapse of

One.Tel One.Tel was a group of Australian-based telecommunications companies, principally the publicly-listed One.Tel Limited (ACN 068 193 153), established in 1995 soon after deregulation of the Australian telecommunications industry, most of which are ...

. In 2006, Barry released a biography on Australian cricketer

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...

, called ''Spun Out''. Extracts of the book were published in

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

's ''

Good Weekend ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in A ...

'' magazine. Some of the content of the biography was criticised by Warne's ex-wife, Simone Callahan, as inaccurate. During October 2009, Barry was the subject of criticism from Australian business identities for his 2009

unauthorised biography An unauthorized biography, sometimes called a kiss-and-tell, or a tell-all, is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after t ...

of media and gambling mogul

James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer, a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer. He is the grandson of Frank Packer. He inherited control of th ...

. The book details relations between the younger Packer and his father, citing anonymous sources as stating the pair had a difficult relationship and that Packer was "relieved" by his father's death. Business leaders and friends of the Packer family including former

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

CEO

Eddie McGuire Edward Joseph McGuire (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television and radio presenter, journalist, Australian Football League commentator and former TV executive. He is also an occasional ''Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosted C ...

and mining tycoon

Andrew Forrest John Andrew Henry Forrest (born 18 November 1961), nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO (and current non-executive chairman) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining ...

defended Packer. Upon launching the book, Barry dismissed the criticism, calling the book "fair" and "considered". Barry has been a contributor to ''

Crikey Crikey is an Australian online news outlet founded in 1999. It consists of a website and email newsletter available to subscribers. History Crikey was founded by the activist shareholder Stephen Mayne, a journalist and former staffer of the ...

'', an online magazine published by Private Media, in which he has a minority share. He first joined ''Crikey'' in December 2010 before he was given approximately worth of new shares of Private Media in June 2012. In February 2011, Alan Bond published a rebuttal of an article written by Barry in December 2010 about Bond's investment in Global Diamond Resources Plc. In August 2011, Barry was appointed as a senior writer at Private Media's ''The Power Index'', "a free website

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

offers daily news, views and features about power and influence in Australia."About The Power Index
official site

Political views

Conservative broadcaster

Andrew Bolt Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian conservative social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its succ ...

described Barry as "of the Left" upon his re-appointment to the Media Watch program in 2013. Barry responded that: In 2014, Barry told ''Media Watch'' he had voted for Liberal

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

as his local MP in the 2013 election. When Turnbull resigned as Prime Minister ahead of a leadership ballot in 2018, Barry's op-ed on ''Media Watch'' called the Liberal challenge to his leadership "madness". He endorsed the analysis of

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media (communication), media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The ...

's Peter Hartcher that Turnbull's challenger

Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party from 2 ...

was "poison" and

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

's analysis that

News Corp The second and current incarnation of News Corporation, doing business as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company was formed on ...

is a "cancer on Australian democracy". Barry denounced a "cabal of conservative commentators" including

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

supporters Alan Jones,

Ray Hadley Raymond Morris Hadley (born 27 September 1954) is a retired Australian talkback radio broadcaster and a rugby league football commentator for Channel Nine. He presents 2GB Sydney's Monday to Friday morning show, and leads the Continuous C ...

, Paul Murray,

Peta Credlin Peta-Louise Mary Credlin (born March 1971) is an Australian media personality and former political advisor who served as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (Australia), Chief of Staff to Tony Abbott during his term as prime minister of Aust ...

and

Rowan Dean Rowan Dean is an Australian advertising executive and conservative commentator. After a career as an advertising industry copywriter, Dean was a panellist on early seasons of '' Gruen'', and became a commentator with multiple newspapers and a c ...

for criticising Turnbull's leadership.Turnbull's downfall
abc.com.au, Broadcast: Mon 27 Aug 2018, 9:15pm

Awards

Books

* 1991: ''The Rise And Fall of Alan Bond'', * 1994: ''The Rise And Rise of Kerry Packer'', * 2000: ''Going For Broke : How Bond Got Away with It'', * 2001: ''Going For Broke : How Bond Got Away with It (Revised and Updated)'', * 2002: ''Rich Kids : How the Murdochs and Packers Lost $950 Million in One.Tel'', * ''Rich Kids : How the Murdochs and Packers Lost $950 Million in One.Tel (Revised and Updated)'', * 2006: ''Spun Out : the Shane Warne Story'', * 2009: ''Who Wants To Be A Billionaire? : the James Packer Story'' * 2013: Breaking news : sex, lies & the Murdoch succession,

References

External links

Profile
at

ABC Online The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the Australian Government, federal government and is administered by a government ...

Speaker profile
at ICMI
Speaker profile
at Saxton {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Paul 1952 births Living people Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Australian freelance journalists Australian television presenters BBC newsreaders and journalists English emigrants to Australia People educated at Sevenoaks School People from Sevenoaks District The Sydney Morning Herald people British media critics Australian comedians Australian humorists Australian activists